Friday, January 13, 2012

Notes to Self by Avery Sawyer

Title: Notes to Self
Author: Avery Sawyer
Publisher: Avery Sawyer, via Smashwords
Acquired: Received free for an honest review
Age Group: Young Adult
Grade: 73% or C-
Buy It: Amazon
Robin Saunders is a high school sophomore with an awesome best friend, a hard-working single mom, and a complicated relationship with a sweet guy named Reno. She's coasting along, trying to get through yet another tedious year of high school, when Em suggests something daring. They live in Florida-- tourist central--and Emily wants to sneak into a theme park after midnight and see what they're made of.

When things get out of control, Robin wakes up in a hospital bed and Emily doesn't wake up at all. Just getting dressed becomes an ordeal as Robin tries to heal and piece together the details of that terrible night. Racing to remember everything in the hopes of saving Emily, Robin writes a series of notes to herself to discover the truth.
My Thoughts::
Unsurprisingly, I accepted the request to read and review this book. The concept seemed pretty simple, but the main character looked like I'd want to get to know her, and I wanted to see how her journey would end up.

I thought the notes that Robin was supposed to be leaving to herself would play a much larger part to the story, but it actually was just like the end of a flashback. The flashbacks were probably my favorite parts of the book. Since Robin doesn't really know herself anymore, this is our way of getting to know her and for her to get to know herself. But let me be honest here, I really did like post accident Robin, but not the Robin from before. Most of the times that she flashed back, I didn't like the person that she was and was extremely glad that she was changing.

The book was interesting for sure, but it wasn't very exciting. I kept waiting for something to happen, and I can only think of a couple of times where we get any kind of action at all. The second half of the book stepped up its game, and woaah, I was about to go crazy on that almost HUGE twist. Just woaaah. My head would have exploded.

I wish we could have gotten to know some of the other characters more and get some resolution with her father. There were so many little story and relationship strings flying everywhere and I feel like they were left hanging and weren't tied up.

Overall I think that Notes to Self was a book good for exploring personal growth, but if you're into something with more excitement, you might want to pass.

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